Kath joined Melbourne Festival, Melbourne’s flagship cultural event, as Executive Director in 2016 from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, where she had spent seven years as Chief Executive of the world’s largest arts festival. Originally from Orkney, Kath has worked in and around Festivals for over 25 years, as well as working as a producer of many of the UK’s major events, and was founding director and later chair of Festivals Edinburgh, the high-level organisation created to take the lead on Edinburgh’s festivals’ joint strategic development. She was awarded a CBE for Services to Culture in Scotland in June 2014, is passionate about the arts, their place in society, women’s role in the arts and particularly passionate about the unique alchemy that happens at festivals and how this experience is applicable across the world.